


Manege

by pixelk1



Series: The Guardians Dance Studio [2]
Category: Brave (2012), Hotel Transylvania (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dance, F/M, dance studio AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-18 20:17:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2360957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixelk1/pseuds/pixelk1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys and girls ballet classes at The Guardian Dance studio have been combined. Merida's mother is pressuring her to get out more with socialization and find a boyfriend. After seeing the cute new boy in her ballet class dating might not be as bad as she's thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ballet terminology:  
> Pointe shoes- ballet shoes with stiff toes, allowing dancers to dance right on the tips or en pointe  
> Barre- A bar used for warm-ups and "bar combinations."  
> Arabesque (Arabesque en pointe)- A move where a dancer balances on the toes of one foot and lifts her other leg into the air behind her. It is a popular beginning position for lifts.  
> Fish Dive- A lift where the female dancer is held low to the ground in a diving position. It is a very basic lift.  
> Parallel Passé- The bend of the front leg towards the body during a leap or lift. It is utilized in the fish dive.
> 
> Whoo! So here's part 2 of the Guardian Dance studio AU. I was telling someone about Mericup the other day and he was all "But Merida don't need no man."  
> My reply was long the lines of "I don't think Hiccup qualifies as a man."

Merida was a very busy girl. Horseback riding on Mondays, ballet on Tuesdays, archery on Wednesdays, more ballet on Thursdays, Highland dancing on Fridays, homework and her parents left little time for anything else. Yet she upheld a strong social circle and regularly attended parties with her friends.

Honestly, it was exhausting. Her proud mother was a self-employed queen of their house who spent her time bossing around the cook and maid and driving Merida to lessons. Her father was a prominent member on the city council (it was more of a large town) and her three younger brothers spent their time terrorizing the countless nannies who had taken on the task to caring for them.

It was on her way to ballet lessons that her mother tried to give her the talk. Merida had been working on math homework but when she heard her mother clear her throat in her trying-to-be-casual-but-still-get-your-attention cough, she closed the notebook and looked up.

“So, Merida, I’ve been wondering for some time now.” Eleanor said, glancing at Merida. “How you’ve been getting on socially with the lads?”

Merida tugged a strand of her hair out of her eyes and shrugged. “I don’t know mum. They’re nice I guess.”

Eleanor nodded thoughtfully. “I was hoping that there was a special someone you had your eye on. You’re almost seventeen now you know. You won’t be a teenager forever.”

“Well now I don’t think I have to hurry anything. I hardly have time for anything you know.”

“Aye,” She said as she pulled her car up in front of the dance studio. “Just remember you can talk to me about anything.”

Merida smiled, “Thanks mum. I’ll keep that in mind.” She said as she climbed out of the car, pulling her ballet bag with her. “I’ll see you after class.”

“Say hello to your teacher for me.” Eleanor said after Merida.

The Guardians Dance Studio was a small studio above a bookstore on the town’s main drag. It had two main rooms plus two changing rooms, a tiny theatre that was at least half stage, and the main office of the three teachers. The girls changing room was more of a closet and was always packed before her class. For that reason Merida had worn her leotard beneath her clothes. She stood in front of the mirror and pulled her wild red hair into a tight bun above her head. Curling strands fell out around the top but they always did.

She tucked her things into her locker and laced her pointe shoes. The tips where rubbing away and she needed to replace them. When she was done she wandered into the studio and began stretching. Her friends Mavis, Rapunzel and Anna wandered in after her and she greeted them.

“So, how have you been?” Asked Mavis as she pulled her short black hair into a nubby ponytail.

Merida frowned a little. “My mum had a conversation with me about having a boyfriend.”

Anna’s eyes grew round. “Do you have a date or something?”

Merida shook her head and watched Rapunzel swing an arm around Mavis’ shoulder. The two of them had been dating for almost two months now. “Well Mavis and I could help you find someone. We’ve had lots of suitors before we met each other.”

Mavis turned her head to look at Rapunzel, “What suitors have you had? Do I have to beat them up?”

Rapunzel laughed, “Don’t worry. If they start bothering us we can beat them up with our awesome ballet dance kicks.”

Their teacher, Mr. North, walked into the studio at that moment. The large Russian man might not look like much now but in his day he was a principal at a prominent Russian ballet company. All he had to do was clear his throat and the girls fell into place at the barre.

“So, as you know, the studio offers separate boys and girls ballet classes. The boy’s ballet class has shrunk in numbers over the past years and for that reason we are forced to combine the classes. This will be an adjustment for all of us but if you look on the bright side it will open doors for dances we had never dreamed of trying. Without further ado; the boys dance class.”

Three boys walked into the room. Two boys about the age of twelve waved at the junior girls and glanced at the senior girls shyly. One boy around the age of sixteen regarded the senior girls with interest and smiled at them a little.

“I never knew the boy’s ballet class was so small.” Mavis murmured.

“A lot of the boys dropped out last year. The Friday jazz class has been suffering too,” Rapunzel explained.

“What about the ballroom couples?”

“My sister hasn’t mentioned anything about them.” Anna interjected. “They’re mostly pretty devoted since they train for competitions.

The Guardians first started as a ballroom dance studio but extended to Jazz and Ballet later. The ballroom couples where the best around and only elite dancers trained. Last year one couple had gone all the way to the national championships.

Mr. North clapped his hands again and everyone stood at attention. He directed the two smaller boys over towards the junior girls who were staring at the boys hungrily.

The older boy came over to the senior girl’s barre and gave the girls a nervous half-smile. He had longish brown hair and freckles along his nose. His eyes ran over each of them and lingered on Merida a second longer. She blushed and went up to the front to begin the warmups.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiccup was faced with three options. One was to look as cool as possible and not even talk to the four senior girls. The next was to talk to them but try to look cool anyway because he firmly believe that he could make the white shirt and tight black leggings he was wearing look cool. And the third was to just be himself. He picked the last one.

The dance studio had split up the ballet classes by gender for simplicity. The two classes where then split into two sections by seniority. The junior girls and boys ran from age’s five to twelve. The seniors ran from age’s thirteen through eighteen or above. Usually the dancers went competitive around ages eighteen or got picked up by ballet companies so that was a pretty typical stopping point.

The senior girl’s ballet class consisted of four girls; each about the age of fifteen, sixteen or seventeen. Hiccup surveyed the girls. One of them had shocking red curly hair tied back in an impossible bun. Their eyes met and she became rigid, stalking past him to begin warmups.

The senior girls where impressive dancers. Mavis was the only of the four who did not dance en pointe but she told him she had only been at the studio for a few months. The spent the next hour practising leaps and kicks and spins. Mr. North even decided to try Hiccup on some of the lifts.

Anna volunteered to be the first person for a lift and they tried the fish dive. Anna began in an arabesque en pointe. Hiccup nervously wrapped his left arm around her ribcage, the other supporting her thigh. He bent his knee, tilting her downwards. As they came down into the dive Anna yelped and Hiccups palm slipped from her thigh, sending the pair sprawling across the floor.

“Sorry. That was my fault. My back wasn’t held tight enough,” Anna apologized as she sat up.

Hiccup shook his head, breathing heavily. “No my hand slipped. It was clearly me.”

Merida came over and helped the two of them to their feet, “I think I’d like to give it a try this time.” She asked Anna.

Anna nodded and shot Hiccup one last apologetic frown before scampering away to join the girls.

Merida came in closer than Anna had and lifted herself into arabesque en pointe. Hiccup wrapped his arm around her rib cage and placed his other hand on her thigh. “A little higher,” Merida breathed.

He slid his hand higher and cupped the tight muscle. He bent his knee downwards and they dropped softly into the dive. Merida bent her leg into parallel passé before looking back to give Hiccup a quick smile. Hiccup held her for a second before straightening his leg and placing her back into arabesque form.

Merida dropped her feet from en pointe and turned to smile at him, “When I was watching you I noticed your hand was low and Anna didn’t have the ideal curve of her back which carries the whole form.”

Hiccup nodded thoughtfully, “Thanks. I think I got it now.”

“Anytime,” She said with a wink.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After class everyone filed out into the parking lot. Rapunzel and Mavis broke off and drove to Rapunzel’s house. Anna stayed inside to watch her sister practise their new waltz routine for an upcoming competition.

Hiccup and Merida waited at the curb for their parents to pick them up.

“So, how long have you been dancing?” Hiccup asked, trying to make conversation.

“About twelve years. How about you?” Merida answered.

Hiccup nodded, “Ten. I started when I moved here. I’m originally from Denmark.”

“Cool. I’m originally from Scotland. We still have family ties there.”

At that moment Merida’s mom pulled up in the family’s Cadillac and Merida opened the door. “I’ll see you on Tuesday.” Merida said, craning her neck to glance back at Hiccup.

“Yeah, see you then.” Hiccup replied.

As Eleanor speed away she glanced at Merida. “So, who was that?”

Merida sighed. “It’s not what you think. They combined the ballet classes and he just happens to be the only senior boy.”

“So there will be competition for him then? You’ve got an upper hand. You know how to use a bow.”

“Ugh, mum! I’m not going to murder my friends for a boy. Besides, most of them are taken. Anna’s the only single one and Rapunzel says she has some boy in their jazz class.”

Eleanor slapped the steering wheel, “So less competition for you then.”

Merida groaned and dragged a hand through her hair. It hadn’t yet fluffed up after being in a bun for so long and her hairline itched, “I’m not going to date the first boy that shows up after our conversation.”

Eleanor shrugged, amused at Merida’s exasperation. “Well suit yourself. But he’s cute.”

Merida made a gagging noise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiccup stood at the side of the road tapped his foot before seeing Gobber’s ancient truck swing around the corner.

“Hello there Hiccup. How was your dance practise?” Gobber asked as Hiccup opened the door to the brown pickup truck.

“Oh it was fine. I fell only about a million times when we were practising lifts.” Hiccup said, putting on his seat belt.

Gobber chortled as he fired the engine up. It sputtered and died and he cursed under his breath. “I’ve been having trouble with Grump all weak. He just doesn’t want to keep running.”

“Why don’t you just get a new truck?” Hiccup asked, exasperated.

Gobber shook his head and went around to the front of the truck, lifting the hood to pear inside. “Well that’s no fun, is it?” He plucked at a few wires and shifted things about a bit before slamming the hood down again. “Let’s give it one more go.”

The truck coughed a bit and roared to life, “Ah there we go.” Gobber exclaimed with a wink. “Anyway, lifts. So what about them?"

“I couldn’t even do a fish dive properly until I had to switch partners. This girl Merida walked me through the whole thing. I felt so stupid.”

Gobber shrugged, “Sounds like a real catch to me.”

“Haha, Fish dive. Got it.” Hiccup grumbled. “Just take me home won’t you.”

“Oh and your fathers going to be late because of-“

“-high school football starting again and he has to do try-outs. Got it.” Hiccup finished. “I’m supposed to be embarrassed about being the son of the football coach and going to ballet lessons aren’t I?”

Gobber shrugged, “Most people think it’s weird.”

“Our family has always been weird Gobber,” Hiccup reminded him.

“And we’re going to stay that way.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Merida dear, Maudie is going to drive you to your lesson today because I’m going to a dinner with your father,” Eleanor shouted down the hall while inspecting herself in her mirror.

A muffled, grunting reply sounded from Merida’s room and Eleanor stuck her head out the bedroom door to look down the hall at Merida’s room. “Don’t grunt dear, it’s not polite.”

Merida stuck her head out of her bedroom door and rolled her eyes. “Well how else am I supposed to reply when I have food in my mouth?”

Eleanor frowned. “Charming. Really.”

Merida stuck her head back into her room and shoved her leotard into her dance bag, “My stockings have more runs than I can count and my pointe shoes are wearing out. We’ll need to get them replaced soon.”

Eleanor appeared in her doorway, “Well I’ll figure something out. When are you taking your driver’s test again?”

Merida groaned, “Mum I don’t have time for Drivers Ed right now. My week is already full enough.”

Eleanor clucked her teeth, “I know. Let me do your hair at least.” She said to the bustling teen girl.

Merida sat on her bed and handed her mother a pink hair tie. Eleanor twisted and braided Merida’s hair while she continued to take bites from her sandwich. When Eleanor was satisfied with Merida’s hair she gave her a kiss on the cheek and scurried out of the room. “We’ll be home late again. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Merida nodded and shoved the rest of her things into her dance bag before walking after her mother to the garage.

Maudie, the maid, was wrestling her three brothers into the backseat to drive them to their friend’s house and Merida slipped into the passenger seat. The ride was hectic and Hamish kept kicking the back of her chair. When she was dropped off at the studio she hurried upstairs, tossing a thank you to Maudie behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiccup would definitely be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see Merida again. Maybe it was how fearless she was with the lifts or maybe it was her firm but strong personality. He barely knew her but he was already crushing really hard.

When she came into the studio he tried to act cool and keep listening to Anna regaling her with stories about her sister. When Merida had greeted Mavis and Rapunzel and some of the junior dancers she wandered over to where Anna and Hiccup where chatting.

“Hi, how are you?” Hiccup asked, interrupting Anna’s story.

“Fine. School’s been getting crazy you know?” She said.

Hiccup was aware of Anna silently slipping away from them, “Oh yeah totally. I don’t know how I’m keeping up with the homework.”

Merida smiled. “And now Mr. North is planning the spring recital and it seems like he’s going to choreograph the whole thing himself. His idea for the ballet is the four seasons.”

“That sounds like it’ll be fun.”

“More like a lot of work,” She sighed. “Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go for dinner after class today. Are you free?”

Hiccups heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected her to be so forward about it, “Oh yeah totally. I would love to go.”

“Good, I’ll tell the others you’re going with us. Mavis knows this really cool restaurant downtown.”

Hiccups heart dropped into his stomach, “Oh right. That sounds great.”

Merida frowned at him, looking perplexed but thankfully North called the class to attention at that exact moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiccup was an enigma wrapped in a labyrinth wrapped in a riddle. He was always talking to Anna but he was always looking at her.

Or maybe her mom’s chats about boyfriends where getting to her. Merida was far too busy to date anyone and a scrawny boy from ballet was certainly not her first choice anyway. They went to the restaurant after class, taking Rapunzel’s car. She had sat squashed in the back beside Anna who had basically ignored her to talk to Hiccup. Anna and Hiccup even sat next to each other at dinner.

She was glad to flee the scene. Everyone was going over to Rapunzel’s house to hang out but Merida had homework and needed to be well rested for an archery competition. Hiccup gave her a slight wave as she left.

As she was walking away from the restaurant she heard him call behind her. She turned in the cold autumn air, pulling her scarf up around her mouth and breathing heavily into the soft knit to warm her face.

He stumbled towards her, scribbling on a piece of paper. “I meant to give you this earlier. It’s my cellphone number in case you ever wanted to hang out or chat or whatever.”

She accepted the paper and tucked it into her pocket, “Thanks. I’ll give you a call sometime.” She said quietly.

He smiled and they stared at each other for a moment. The street was quiet and dark, and the sounds of the restaurant spilled onto the street. He looked handsome in the evening light. She liked the way his dark hair fell into his bright green eyes. Suddenly he shivered.

“Are you cold?” She asked, moving closer to him.

He nodded, “I think I’ll get inside soon.” He said apologetically.

She unwrapped her scarf from her neck and placed it around his neck. The soft green matched his eyes nicely. “Thanks,” he said as he shifted the scarf around.

“I’ll see you around Hiccup.”

He nodded and turned his body half-away from her. “Yeah, see you around.”

And with that she shrank into the downtown nighttime.

She kept the piece of paper with his phone number tucked into her pocket as she went to the archery competition the next day. Merida was ridiculously good at archery anyway so she didn’t need any good luck charms but it was nice having something of a friends near her, even if she had only known him for two weeks. Archery was simple, not like dance. Aim, breath in, shoot, breath out, done.

She took first place (again.) After supper that evening she went up to her room to study on her four-post bed. She had a three-page biology essay due the next day and she had only written a short outline on the behaviours of the _Ursus Americanus_. But instead she found herself in her mother’s sewing room, admiring the tapestry her mother had worked on for years. It had a rip in it from a spat she had once had with her mother but they had mended it together. The only thing more important to Merida than her activities were her family.

After a quick snack Merida returned to her room to continue work on her essay, only to once again get distracted with Hiccups paper slip falling out of her jeans pocket. She hadn’t bothered to change after the competition. She picked the paper up and studied it for a bit. His handwriting slanted and curled softly. She found her phone and dialed his number, the phone rang twice and before his nasally voice crackled into the speaker.

“Hello?”

She sat on her bed, “Hey. Hey Hiccup. Um, it’s Merida.”

“Oh hey. What’s up?”

“Not much. I was just calling to say hi and give you a chance to get my phone number too because I didn’t give you it yesterday.”

“Right yeah.”

Merida was silent for a moment but the awkward pause seemed to stretch on for hours. “Well I had better be going then. I have homework to do.”

“Sure. Nose back to the old grindstone.”

Merida laughed a quick chuckled and then internally groaned. She must have sounded so stupid, “Well I’ll see you on Tuesday then.”

“Oh wait Merida? I was wondering if you wanted to go for coffee this weekend. Just the two of us this time.”

Merida’s stomach fluttered, “I would love too.”

“Great, awesome. I’ll text you the details later then.”

“Yeah, later,” And the phone clicked dead. Merida curled into a ball on her bed and stared at the phone. She definitely wasn’t going to be doing her homework after that excitement.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiccup wasn’t sure if going for coffee on Saturday had counted as a date. They had laughed and talked and thoroughly enjoyed themselves (Merida was too interesting to be bored around) and Hiccup had thought it had gone swimmingly. On Tuesday he forgot all about his cool stunt and went right up to Merida when she arrived. North lumbered into the studio right behind her so they didn’t have a chance to talk before North grouped them up for the recital.

Hiccup had been disappointed to find out that he would not be partnered with Merida but also happy that she had gotten a solo. She, with the fiery red hair, would represent the season of fall. He would be performing a pas de deux with Anna as winter. The juniors always did a group performance and would take on spring. Mavis and Rapunzel, the dream duo, would also be doing a non-traditional pas de deux as summer.

Since the recital would be taking over their full schedules now North gave out practise sheets and signed them up for rehearsal times with him. He and Anna would be working in studio two during Tuesdays and Thursdays with the juniors. The other seniors had rehearsals in studio one so they would not see each other much.

Anna galloped over to where he stood and wrapped an arm around his. He thought he saw Merida glance at them from across the room but she looked down at her sheet quickly. Anna bounced up and down excitedly and squealed about how much fun they would have working together and how they would be practising all the time. It made Hiccups head hurt just thinking about it but he politely smiled down at Anna as she steered him into studio two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merida had been at the studio for years. In fact the only student that had been there before her was Rapunzel and she only topped by a year since she was older than Merida. In all the time she had spent dancing here had had never gotten a solo dance and it was quite an honour. Still, watching all of her friends trickle out of the room left her with a slight feeling of disappointment. Once everyone had either been dismissed or gone off to practise Mr. North turned to her and smiled.

“Merida,” he said in his gruff voice. “It’s time to find your centre.”

Merida worked half-heartedly at the dance, her twirls where absent minded and her leaps mediocre at best. After the third or fourth time falling down dizzy during the end of dance Manège, North sent her home with a frown.

Two weeks later Hiccup texted her insisting that they meet up after rehearsals. They hadn’t seen each other at all expect for brief exchanges in the hall and even that was a sorry excuse. Merida worked extra hard in rehearsals, much to Mr. North’s delight but scurried away after he dismissed her to studio two.

As she rounded the corner, wiping her face on her shirt she stopped suddenly. Hiccup had an arm wrapped around Anna’s waist. Anna was caressing his check lightly as she pressed her mouth onto his. Merida stood there stunned before twirling on the spot and walking out of the studio again. Not looking back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiccup gasped as Anna’s mouth fell onto his but pulled away quickly. He faintly heard the sound of a door slamming and Anna looked around.

“I’m sorry but I really can’t do this.” He insisted.

Anna frowned, “I thought you liked me. We dance together so beautifully.”

He rubbed his eyes, “I didn’t think you would kiss me at the end. What if someone had seen us?”

“Someone did.” Anna said quietly.

“What?” Hiccup asked, looking up at her and taking another step away.

Anna pointed at the door, “Merida walked in when I kissed you…”

Hiccup cursed and flew towards the door. Anna’s hand caught him by the wrist. “Lets me go.” He insisted, pulling away from her.

Anna looked guiltily at the floor. “I’ve known Merida for years Hic. She can get moody. It’s best to just leave her alone now.”

Hiccup stopped pulling and looked at her, “Hey Anna. I’m really sorry but I don’t want to screw things up with Merida. I do like you but as a friend.”

Anna sighed, “I know. I just thought…never mind.” Tear trickled down her cheek. Hiccup wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” He said into her hair, “I’m really really sorry.”

“No its okay. Don’t be. I’m the silly one. Thinking a boy likes me because he talks to me more than once.”

Hiccup snorted and pulled away, “Let’s just forget this ever happened and keep working.”

Anna wiped the tears from her eyes. He hadn’t notice her crying, “Yeah okay.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merida didn’t need Hiccup. She had barely even known him anyway. They had gone on one date for goodness sakes. He was probably bad boyfriend material anyway and she was doing just fine on her own thank you very much.

Over the next few weeks she absolutely threw herself into her dance. She would show everyone how fiery Merida could really be. She liked her dance too. Mr. North wanted her to be the “whirling leaves in the wind.” She could do that. She could twirl. She even picked up the Manège in only two days. Mr. North was ultimately very pleased.

It wasn’t just her ballet lessons that she improved in. She was ruthless in archery. In horseback riding she steered her horse with a fearless and determined nature. Every minute that she wasn’t spending dancing, shooting things or horseback riding she was at home studying or eating. Over two weeks she had completely cut all of her friends and down time out of her schedule.

The only time she didn’t spend doing something was when she was sleeping and she was always so exhausted that she fell asleep almost immediately when her head hit the pillow each night. No one seemed to notice except for her mother. One night when she was studying for her math class her mother intercepted her.

“Merida dear, are you doing okay?” Eleanor asked, peeking her head around the corner.

Merida glanced up from her textbook then back down at the page, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Eleanor padded into the bedroom and sat on the edge of Merida’s bed, facing her desk. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her makeup was washed away from her face. She wore faded pajamas. Merida would never admit it but she always loved seeing her mother this way. Eleanor and her father Ferguson where always in the public eye. Press conferences and public auctions for charities and such. It was a nice break.

“You’ve been working very hard darling. I don’t want you to exhaust yourself. I worry about you.”

Merida nodded and pushed her book away, knowing that there was no use ignoring her mother when she wanted to speak. “I’m fine mum, really.”

Eleanor frowned and her forehead wrinkled. Merida sighed, “If you’re really worried I’ll try to take a few breaks and get together with friends.”

Eleanor continued frowning but nodded, “Maybe you could invite someone over on Saturday after we go shopping for your pointe shoes?”

Merida pulled the textbook back towards her and looked away. “Ay, I’ll do that. I just need to finish this.”

Eleanor stood and softly closed the door as she left, whispering a soft goodnight.

Merida knew that her mom was right and she set about texting her friends the next morning. Of course it was just her luck that Hiccup was the only person available.

He arranged to show up at two o’clock on Saturday afternoon and the day quickly rolled around. It was a drab, rainy day and Merida sluggishly rolled out of bed that morning. Shopping for pointe shoes and new tights was uneventful and Merida returned home early so that she could sit around and wait for him to arrive.

When the doorbell rang her mother answered it to find Hiccup in the doorway, a black umbrella eclipsing his face.

When he closed it, he introduced himself to Merida’s mother. Eleanor brought snacks and juice and then casually made herself scarce. The pair went down to the rec-room in the basement and sat on opposite ends of the couch.

“So, how are you?” Merida asked, “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I’m fine. The pas de deux is coming along quite well.” Hiccup said, glancing at Merida.

Merida swallowed and thought about all the afternoons Hiccup and Anna had alone to rehearse. “That’s good.”

Hiccup frowned at her feet, “Why do your feet look so big?”

Merida looked down too and then couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m breaking in my new pointe shoes.” She explained, lifting her heavily-socked feet. “Wear the shoes with several layers of socks over top and walk around the house a lot.”

Hiccup chuckled, “That’s pretty funny.”

“Anyway, do you want to watch a movie? Or we could play video games.” She said, pointing to the Wii and standing.

Hiccup shrugged, “Do you have Brawl?”

Merida put her hands on her hips, “Do I have three brothers? Of course we do.”

“Great, let’s do it.” Hiccup said, smiling. All worries and awkwardness vanishing.

Merida tossed him a controller and set about turning the Wii on. It was nice, just playing a simple game with him. Not thinking about how cute he looked in his green hoodie or the way his nose scrunched up in concentration when he attacked.

After the fourth time Merida beat Hiccup he set his controller down in defeat, “Even in a video game you terrify me with your lethalness.”

Merida winked at him, “What can I say? I naturally excel at getting what I want.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

Merida hesitated, “I don’t know. Stuff.” She muttered. This was wrong. Hiccup liked Anna. They had kissed hadn’t they? Merida had seen him kiss her but the look in his eyes could have fooled her…

Hiccup smirked and sipped on his can of Coke, “Humility is clearly not your strong point.”

“Rude.” She said, leaning over to punch his arm.

“Ah,” he gasped, rubbing his shoulder, “And now with the punching?”

Merida giggled and shook her head, her hair flopping about her round face, “Never mind. Let’s get back to playing.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiccup was a coward and he would be the first to admit it. He totally knew Merida liked him. It was totally glaringly obvious and he totally like her (which she may or may not have known.)

When Merida had texted him he had jumped at the chance to go to her house and see her. Alone. When he could confess his feelings or whatever. And so here they were. Alone. With Hiccup totally not confessing his feelings.

Hiccup stared at the television screen but didn’t really see it. Merida’s character, Pit hit him with three arrows and his Charizard was pushed back over the edge of the stage, respawning into Squirtle. He frowned at the screen and Merida paused the game.

“Are you okay?” She asked, glancing at him.

He took a deep breath and turned to her, “Actually. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

Merida flicked her eyes to the screen before turning the volume down on the TV. Clearly, she understood the important of this.

“So, I’ve been thinking. I’ve known you for a few weeks now and you’re really cool and Iwaswonderingifmaybeyouwantedtogooutsometime?” Hiccup blurted out.

Merida cocked her head to one side, “Erm. What was that?”

He took another deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. “I mean, um. Would you like to go on a date with me?”

She was silent for a minute and Hiccup wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans. Then she smiled a tiny smile and nodded, “Yeah. I’d really like that.”

He smiled back, “Oh thank goodness.”

“I thought you were dating Anna though. Like, what’s up with that?” She asked.

“No. I mean, she kissed me once but we’re not together. Like, I told her that I like you and she was cool. We’re friends.”

Merida laughed, “Oh thank goodness. And here I was running around thinking I had a crush on my friends boyfriend.”

Hiccup laughed too and slipped his hand into hers. She responded with squeezing his hand softly, telling him it was okay.

“So, am I gonna get back to pulverizing you at Brawl now?” She asked, batting her eyelashes.

“Game on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 ended up being ridiculously long. Oops?


	4. Chapter 4

The next Tuesday was the first time trying on their costumes for the recital. Merida especially enjoyed laughing at the junior dancer’s spring costumes. The inspiration where sun flowers and each kid was adorned with a gigantic fake flower popping from their heads.

Hiccup and Anna basically looked like ice skaters. Their winter themes costumes where blue and sparkle. Anna’s tutu was cut out like a snowflake. As for Mavis and Rapunzel, they both where adorned in bathing-suit style yellow costumes for summer. Rapunzel was excited and bounce as ever Mavis however looked way out of her comfort zone.

“And least I’ve still avoided pink,” Merida heard her mutter.

Merida on the other hand; her costume was far from ridiculous. Her custom order red pointe shoes could finally be revealed. The ribbons appeared to be actual leaves that wrapped around her legs. Her sheer tights then made way for a bright orange tutu. Leaves wrapped over her chest and cascaded over the sides of the tutu. Her arms and head where bare with her hair tucked into a simple bun. Merida knew how loose the bun really was but she would save that secret for the end of the dance.

Finally it was time for the dress rehearsal. Usually, fall was reserved for last but instead North decided she ought to go first. She struck her pose and the music began. She danced lightly, stepping over her feet with utter grace. The dance required a lot of turns and she pirouetted across the floor. A pause to do an Italian fouette and then the dance really picked up. She leaped across the stage in Jetes, and Grande Jetes. Like the leaves on the wind she soared. Finally preparing for the Manège at the end of the dance, she reached back to grasp at her bun, pulling the elastic out and away from her face.

Red hair cascaded down and whipped her face as she spun around and around, the music filling her very soul. When the music finally stopped she thrust her arms into the air in triumph and formed the final pose. She finished right in front of Hiccup and he smiled up at her in awe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaaaayyy. I think The Guardians Dance Studio should be renamed The Matchmaker Dance studio. Look at all these nerds. Like for the third installment of this series coming sooon~~~~~~~~<3


End file.
